A Horrified 13-year-old boy yesterday explained how he tried in vain to resuscitate his younger brother and watched him die after pulling him from Buffalo City Metro’s Waste Water Treatment Plant in Reeston on Tuesday.
Ndalo Lugogwana dived into the dam and pulled his 10-year-old brother Sanele out of the water and immediately performed CPR on him. But his brave actions were unsuccessful as he watched his brother draw his last breath.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday at his Phase 1 home in Scenery Park, the teenager relived the ordeal.
“I was at home doing chores when my brother’s three classmates came carrying his clothes and I asked them where he was.
“They told me they had been swimming and my brother had disappeared in the water.
“I ran to the dam and dived into the water, searched and found him.
“His eyes were moving and one arm kept moving from time to time but he died moments later,” he said.
Sanele and his friends had gone for a swim at the unfenced dam after they had allegedly been sent home early by the school.
Sanele’s family and residents are livid, saying the boy would not have drowned had BCM fenced the area off.
But metro spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said the plant had fencing installed in December which had been stolen on two separate occasions.
Residents also blasted the police, education and health departments, saying police had taken their time and arrived some time after 5pm – five hours after the accident occurred.
Some residents said state forensic pathologists only arrived after 9.30pm while others said that had the children been at school, Sanele would still be alive.
School governing body member Sylvia Capa said the principal had dismissed the unsupervised Grade 3 class early because their teacher had a bereavement when her mother died.
Sanele, his twin sister Zanele and Ndalo are orphans who were left in the care of their aunt Sindiswa Lugogwana, 50, after their mother died in 2008.
“We are hurt about our loss but we don’t blame the school because the teacher’s mother passed away so it is understandable that the children were sent away,” said Lugogwana.
However, she tore into the municipality.
“I’m deeply hurt and disappointed with the municipality.
“What terrifies me is that our settlement is surrounded by dams and we can’t help but fear more drownings.”
Provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumane had not responded to e-mailed questions at the time of writing.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni failed to comment at the time of writing.
When the Dispatch visited the area yesterday, parts of the dam were unfenced and there were no signs warning against swimming.
Ngwenya called on adults to educate their children against swimming without adult supervision. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
‘I watched my brother die’
Ndalo Lugogwana dived into the dam and pulled his 10-year-old brother Sanele out of the water and immediately performed CPR on him. But his brave actions were unsuccessful as he watched his brother draw his last breath.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday at his Phase 1 home in Scenery Park, the teenager relived the ordeal.
“I was at home doing chores when my brother’s three classmates came carrying his clothes and I asked them where he was.
“They told me they had been swimming and my brother had disappeared in the water.
“I ran to the dam and dived into the water, searched and found him.
“His eyes were moving and one arm kept moving from time to time but he died moments later,” he said.
Sanele and his friends had gone for a swim at the unfenced dam after they had allegedly been sent home early by the school.
Sanele’s family and residents are livid, saying the boy would not have drowned had BCM fenced the area off.
But metro spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said the plant had fencing installed in December which had been stolen on two separate occasions.
Residents also blasted the police, education and health departments, saying police had taken their time and arrived some time after 5pm – five hours after the accident occurred.
Some residents said state forensic pathologists only arrived after 9.30pm while others said that had the children been at school, Sanele would still be alive.
School governing body member Sylvia Capa said the principal had dismissed the unsupervised Grade 3 class early because their teacher had a bereavement when her mother died.
Sanele, his twin sister Zanele and Ndalo are orphans who were left in the care of their aunt Sindiswa Lugogwana, 50, after their mother died in 2008.
“We are hurt about our loss but we don’t blame the school because the teacher’s mother passed away so it is understandable that the children were sent away,” said Lugogwana.
However, she tore into the municipality.
“I’m deeply hurt and disappointed with the municipality.
“What terrifies me is that our settlement is surrounded by dams and we can’t help but fear more drownings.”
Provincial education spokesman Loyiso Pulumane had not responded to e-mailed questions at the time of writing.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni failed to comment at the time of writing.
When the Dispatch visited the area yesterday, parts of the dam were unfenced and there were no signs warning against swimming.
Ngwenya called on adults to educate their children against swimming without adult supervision. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
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